protein

Beans get such a bad rap from keeping students alive during college to being in a typical greasy fry. However beans are a great and cheap protein source so I always keep a stock of tinned chickpeas, butter beans and kidney beans in my cupboards. You can instantly make hummus or bulk up a curry in minutes by rinsing and draining them.

This bean dish is perfect for a quick evening meal or brunch option. Serve alongside some hummus or chunky bread like sourdough to mop up the pesto. Crispy bacon or chorizo would also work great with the beans.

Like this:

Eggs – I personally had a love-hate relationship with these guys for a long time!! It’s a bit strange as I have hens at home and use them to bake all the time. However, put a poached, fried, scrambled or boiled egg in front of me and I will run a mile!!

I did discover that if I disguised eggs with other ingredients just like in baking, I could manage to finish my plate.

First came frittatas and then came these delicious cupcake quiches! These mini quiches are bursting with lots of natural protein from the eggs and will make sure you reach your five a day quota with plenty of vegetables.

These cupcake quiches freeze perfectly and act as a quick post-training or lunchbox filler alongside some salad. Or why not try them as a quick breakfast or brunch option with some wilted greens and a dash of my homemade Sweet Chilli Sauce.

You can substitute the mackerel with salmon, tuna, ham,chicken or exclude completely as you like!

Makes 12, serving =2.

4 eggs

150ml milk

2 smoked mackerel fillets, flaked

10 cherry tomatoes, halved

2 spring onions, finely sliced

5 medium mushrooms, finely sliced

50g feta cheese, cubed

Freshly ground pepper

Preheat an oven to 180°C and line a cupcake tray with silicone cases or else grease each section with some melted coconut oil.

Whisk the eggs and milk together in a large mixing bowl.

Add in the mackerel, vegetables and feta.

Season with some pepper and whisk all the ingredients together.

Evenly pour the mixture amongst the cases and bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out cleanly.

Leave to cool in the cases and gently ease out onto a wire rack.

*When reheating from frozen, allow to defrost fully and reheat on high in a microwave for 1 minute.

Happy cooking,

Sinéad

Hope you enjoyed this recipe! Want to stay up to date with all my latest recipes and creations then join my mailing list now. Click here to get my latest newsletter!

Remember to add #Delalicious to all your cooking, baking & treat making on social media posts.

Like this:

A tart or quiche is a great option for a midweek dinner and doubles up as lunch the next day too as it tastes just as good cold as hot. I personally think the flavour intensifies the day after baking so don’t be afraid to bake this in advance or even freeze it before serving.

The tart pastry could be made overnight or earlier in the day to speed up the process. By refrigerating the pastry, this allows a flaky consistency which is what we all desire!! Puff pastry could also be used instead. Or if you are not too fussed about pastry then why not use the filling ingredients to make Cupcake Quiches??

I love to serve this tart alongside a mix of salads. My red cabbage slaw works great as does a simple green leafy salad.

Serves 6.

Pastry:

170g wholemeal flour

100g plain flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

140g coconut oil, solid

3-4 tbsp cold water

Filling:

2 tsp coconut oil

4 cloves garlic

1 tbsp sage leaves

1/2 medium onion, diced

1 leek, sliced into rounds

100g mushrooms, thinly sliced

100g spinach/kale/chard, shredded

6 eggs

4 tbsp creme fraiche

50ml milk

50g feta, cubed

freshly ground pepper

1 tbsp pumpkin seeds

Make the pastry: sift the flour, salt and pepper into a large mixing bowl.

Rub in the coconut oil in tablespoonfuls with a fork until it forms breadcrumbs.

Gradually add the water and stir with a wooden spoon until a dough forms.

Roll the dough into a ball shape, cover with cling-film and place in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Preheat an oven to 180°C and grease a 23cm quiche tin or use two smaller tins like I used. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out on a floured surface into a 2cm thick circular shape.

Place the dough into your tin and trim off any excess around the edges.

Melt one teaspoon of coconut oil on a large frying pan over a medium heat. Once melted, add the garlic, half the sage leaves, onion and leek. Gently saute for 5 minutes until the onions are translucent. Remove from pan and set aside.

Return the pan to the heat and melt the remaining coconut oil. Add the mushrooms and saute for 5 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.

Return the pan to the heat and dry-fry the shredded spinach, kale or chard for 3-4 minutes or until it’s wilted. Remove from pan and set aside.

In a large bowl or measuring jug, whisk the eggs, creme fraiche and milk together with some freshly ground pepper.

To assemble the tart: place half the spinach on the base followed by half the leek mix and finally the mushrooms. Repeat above until all vegetables are used.

Pour over the egg mix, sprinkle the feta, remaining sage leaves and pumpkin seeds over the top.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out cleanly and the centre is firm.

If you are a religious follower of my blog, you might notice recipes with eggs being the dominant ingredient don’t feature too prominently and that’s because I don’t like eggs!

Don’t get me wrong, I still eat eggs just not in the boiled, poached, scrambled, fried or scotch-egg format. I even wouldn’t touch a quiche for a long time until I discovered if I added enough vegetables and other ingredients I could stomach them.

Eggs are probably one of the most versatile ingredients to have in the cupboard and they don’t need to refrigerated once fresh in the shell. Free-range organic eggs are the gold standard as the colour and flavour can never be matched by battery laying hens (we have hens at home so honestly I know).

This crepe recipe can be adjusted really easily with whatever is lying around your fridge which makes it perfect for those days when you’re staring desperately at a very barren shelf. Swap any fresh or dried herbs, kale, spinach or any leafy green for the cabbage in the crepe, replace the cottage cheese with feta, mozzarella or even hummus; substitute tomatoes, roasted vegetables, leftover stir-fry instead of mushrooms. You really can’t go wrong with this recipe.

Serves 2.

4 eggs

2 tbsp milk

2 spring onions, thinly sliced

2 heaped tbsp sliced cabbage

3 cloves garlic, minced

10 button mushrooms, sliced

4 tbsp cottage cheese

1 tbsp mixed herbs

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, spring onions and cabbage. Set aside in the fridge until ready.

Heat a frying pan over a medium heat with a drizzle of oil.

Once hot, add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and toss until nicely golden. Mix through the cottage cheese and herbs until well combined. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Rinse the frying pan and return to a medium heat with another drizzle of oil. Whisk the eggs one last time and pour half the mixture over the pan. Ensure the cabbage is evenly distributed.

Once the crepe begins to cook through, place half the mushroom mix on half of the crepe and fold over.

Continue to cook for another 2 minutes until the crepe is cooked through.

Remove from the pan and repeat with the remaining egg and mushroom mix.

Like this:

Is this recipe breakfast or dessert? How about both? Now that’s how every morning should start!

Oats are my favourite way to start the day. They are such a versatile ingredient that you never get tired of oats; start with some granola, porridge, overnight oats, add to a smoothie or try these baked oat and berry pots.

A cross between a souffle and porridge may be the best way to describe these without any of the stress. Use your favourite nuts and berries and you won’t go wrong.

Like this:

Leftovers are delicious but sometimes a bit of a challenge to revitalise into an enticing dish to eat. New potatoes are literally bursting out of the ground at this time of the year and no doubt a few too many have been boiled at dinner time.

Potato salad is a great way to use up leftover potatoes with a little mayonnaise and some fresh chives. Omelettes and frittatas are the next best answer.

For this recipe, I had some leftover vegetables from a dinner the night previous but fresh ingredients will work great too. In the case of uncooked potatoes, steaming or baking in the microwave will speed things up a little for you.

Serves 2.

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 eggs

2 tbsp plain/ Greek yoghurt

50ml milk

1 tsp coconut oil, solid

1 large tomato, diced

50g cooked leftover carrots

150g fresh spinach

4 medium-sized new potatoes, sliced

1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped

5 sundried tomatoes, sliced

Whisk the garlic, eggs, yoghurt and milk together in a measuring jug until well combined.

Preheat a grill oven.

Melt the coconut oil in a large ovenproof frying pan over a medium heat.

Add the tomatoes and lightly get for a few minutes until the tomatoes soften. Roughly test the spinach with your hands and add to the tomatoes.

Once the spinach begins to wilt, add the carrots, potatoes and rosemary. Stir to combine.

Increase the heat to high and pour over the egg mixture. Sprinkle over the sundried tomatoes. Cook until the edges begin to harden and transfer to the grill oven. If the frying pan handle is plastic, wrap it in tinfoil to prevent it melting!!

Allow the omelette to cook through under the grill for 5 minutes or until golden.

Do you have any great leftover recipe ideas? I would love to hear them, get in touch on social media.

Why not sign-up to my newsletter to keep updated on all the latest Delalicious recipes.

Like this:

Recovery is an essential part of exercising, to increase muscle size or power there must be breakdown in muscle fibres to result in regeneration and development. Without adequate recovery, muscle development will be inadequate or not occur at all.

Recovery combines many facets including rest, rehydration and refueling. The refueling gold standard combines a mix of protein and carbohydrate and is consumed within 30 minutes of ceasing exercise.

Overnight oats combines both carbohydrates (oats) and protein (milk) and is a great option to have ready in the fridge for a recovery meal at any time of day. I have posted a number of previous flavours but this recipe came about with the presence of a bunch of very overripe bananas.

Like this:

Recovery after tough exercise is vital for our muscles to repair and develop. A simple mix of both protein and carbohydrates within 30 minutes is backed by evidence to provide the necessary nutrients to our bodies. This smoothie is light and easy to digest whilst being super quick to prepare. If I’m traveling some distance to training, I will blend up the fruit and oats with a little water at home and simply buy some milk after training to mix through so that the milk doesn’t sour in my gear bag. I’ve used blackcurrants here but any berry combination would be perfect!

Serves 1, makes 500mls.

3 tbsp oats

2 tbsp blackcurrants/blackberries/blueberries

1/2 medium apple

300ml milk

Place all the ingredients in a blender or tall jar if using a handheld blender.

Blend until smooth, add some more milk or water if you find the consistency too thick.